UNITED STATES March 11 2014 10:35 AM

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): United States shredded scrap prices declined sharply by $16 a long ton week-on-week to $389 a long ton in the week ended March 7th this year, as per the latest figures released by the The Steel Index.

According to TSI, the traditional buy-week in the US scrap markets brought about a 4% fall in US Midwest shredded index (delivered mill), as negative sentiment continued to prevail in the market.

Talk in the run-up to this week was of a $25-30 a long ton drop in pricing, with mills pushing suppliers hard at this level and the expectation of East Coast suppliers offering material to the domestic market.

However, what transpired was a realisation that shredded material was not in such plentiful supply as previously thought and suppliers found a basis to argue for higher prices than mills were hoping for.